Cree Achieves Record Power Performance at 10 GHz
Source: Cree Inc.
40 Watt Hybrid Amplifier and First Reported GaN MMIC Exceed Highest Available Power from GaAs
Durham, NC. At the Biennial IEEE Cornell University Conference on Advanced Concepts in High Performance Devices held in Ithaca, New York last week, Cree, Inc., (Nasdaq: CREE) announced that it has demonstrated a record setting 10 GHz radio frequency (RF) power performance from a gallium nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT). The GaN HEMT transistor was incorporated into a hybrid amplifier that achieved 40 Watts of pulsed RF output power at 10 GHz. This is greater than 2.5 times higher than has been publicly reported for a single semiconductor device at this frequency.
In other development news, Cree reported it has demonstrated the first Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) in GaN, grown on a semi- insulating SiC substrate. A MMIC places the RF matching circuitry of the amplifier directly on the chip, allowing for more efficient, broader band, performance than for the hybrid amplifiers discussed above. In the first iteration, the GaN MMIC achieved 20 Watts of pulsed RF output power at 9 GHz, well exceeding the highest RF output power gallium arsenide (GaAs) MMICs available for this frequency range.
John Palmour, Cree s Director of Advanced Devices commented, "We are extremely pleased with the pace of development in GaN microwave technology. The 40 Watt hybrid amplifier demonstrates the vast improvement in power performance over GaAs, yielded by placing the GaN device on our high thermal conductivity semi-insulating SiC substrates. We believe the first demonstration of a GaN MMIC heralds a new era of high performance wide bandgap MMIC-based amplifiers that are expected to outperform other semiconductor technologies for power and bandwidth."
The work on GaN hybrid and MMIC amplifiers was funded at Cree, in part, by the Air Force Research Laboratories and the Office of Naval Research, respectively. GaN discrete devices and MMICs which are under development are being targeted at Cree for high frequency (5-35 GHz) commercial broadband communications, as well as military radar and communications applications.
North Carolina-based Cree, Inc. is the world leader in developing and manufacturing semiconductor materials and electronic devices made from silicon carbide. The company uses proprietary technology to make enabling compound semiconductors such as blue and green LEDs, microwave transistors for use in wireless base stations and radar, SiC crystals used in the production of unique gemstones and SiC wafers that are sold for research. Cree has new product initiatives based on its experience in SiC, including blue laser diodes for optical storage applications and high power devices for power conditioning and switching. For more information on Cree, visit http://www.cree.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including the possibility we may be unable to develop commercial products based on the GaN hybrid and MMIC amplifier technology; the potential lack of customer acceptance of such products even if developed; the possibility we may be unable to manufacture such products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; and other factors discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 27, 1999, subsequent quarterly reports and our registration statement on Form S-3 filed January 3, 2000, as subsequently amended.
Contact: Fran Barsky, Investor Relations Manager of Cree, Inc. Tel: 919-313-5397 Fax: 919-313-5452
Fran Barsky, Investor Relations Manager of Cree, Inc.
Tel: 919-313-5397
Fax: 919-313-5452
Web site: http://www.cree.com
